OZ

Hamburg based artist Walter Josef Fischer aka OZ died after being hit by a train on 25.9.2014 at the age of 64. He was one of Germany’s most prolific graffiti artists, spraying more than 120.000 tags. He rose to prominence in Hamburg in the early 1990s, when his tags, spirals and smiley faces sprayed on street signs, began to pop up around Hamburg. Police originally suspected an entire gang to be behind his work, and they were surprised when they found out, that the gang was only one elderly man. OZ was repeatedly caught and convicted for damage to property, spending a total of over eight years in prison. Asked if he was an obsessive, Fischer said: “What does obsessive mean? I always tell myself there is a lot to be done. I don’t feel guilty for prettifying our environment.” He is respected as THE grandfather of the community of sprayers.